Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble: Is black magic on the rise in Saudi?

How very Macbeth: " Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble"....black magic is on the rise in Saudi, according to a recent report.

Many people, especially relatives, are resorting to black magic[2] to influence or seek control of others’ lives. This phenomenon is on the increase lately in the Eastern Province, Al-Hayat daily reported.

The Eastern Province Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) said the black magic is being used in the increasing belief that it can separate couples or attract others to certain people.

A source in Haia recounted the story of a blind man who tried to control his siblings using black magic, but his act almost cost him his life. The man resorted to a Lebanese woman to put his siblings under a spell. He got to know of the woman through her program on a satellite channel.

She asked for a SR3,000 payment first and sent him the black magic spell through a courier service. She then asked him for another SR2,000 for the black magic spell to be activated.

She asked the blind man to distribute the black magic spell around the house, and to burn some of the written message.

The blind man asked his wife to read the spell written on paper, and was surprised to know that the spell was prepared against him and not his siblings.

The Lebanese woman apparently was trying to control the blind man to fleece more money out of him. The man went to a Haia center and handed them the spell, and a specialist burned the black magic to defuse its effects.

The source pointed out that the man has not been sentenced yet, and the Haia notified the Ministry of Interior to take necessary action against the woman.